Maxwell’s defense team calls first witness in US sexual abuse trial | Court News

Former financial assistant Jeffrey Epstein is a first-time defense attorney who testified at the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell.

Defense team Ghislaine Maxwell – accused of sexually abusing minors – called his first witness, Jeffrey Epstein, a former aide to the lost financier.

Cimberly Espinosa, 55, testified Thursday in a New York federal court that she was hired as a legal assistant at Epstein in 1996. He later changed roles, he said, to work as Maxwell’s executive assistant from November 1996 to 2002.

“We were together almost every day,” he said.

Asked by Maxwell’s lawyer Christian Everdell, Espinosa testified that he worked with Epstein and several other women who were Maxwell’s receptionist or executive assistant.

Espinosa said Maxwell was a strict leader but learned a lot from him.

“I was very respectful of Ghislaine,” Espinosa said. “I looked at him a lot.”

since higher judgment began Nov. 29, the jury heard testimony Maxwell said of the four women they were settled While they were teenagers between 1994 and 2004 for abuse Epstein.

Maxwell was once there Epstein’s girlfriend before becoming a trusted employee.

Maxwell is 59 years old he pleaded not guilty eight counts of sex trafficking and other offenses. His lawyers argue that he is suffering from a death due to the alleged behavior of the deceased financier because he is dead.

Epstein committed suicide in 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial for sexual abuse.

Maxwell’s attorneys wanted to prove that the prosecution had increased his involvement in the civil claims against Epstein’s estate at the request of attorneys seeking compensation for women.

The defense is seeking the testimony of attorneys who have helped them file claims in a victims ’compensation fund managed by Epstein’s estate. Maxwell’s lawyers said the women had cooperated with prosecutors because they believed their civil claims would benefit them.

It is likely that the defense team will continue to try to undermine the credibility of its accusers, saying that women’s memories have faded over the years.

They plan to call in psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, an expert on how people’s memories can deteriorate over time.

The government’s lawsuit lasted only two weeks and the defense lawsuit lasted only two days. Both sides facilitated the lists of witnesses without clarifying why, leaving the trial a far cry from the original six-week estimate. Prosecution he rested his case on Friday.